San Diego County formally welcomed its new chief probation officer at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors’ meeting at the County Administration Center downtown.
Adolfo Gonzales was sworn in by Superior Court Assistant Presiding Judge Peter Deddeh. The two happen to have deep roots in both law enforcement and in San Diego County—they were classmates at the same junior high school in Chula Vista.
It’s been six weeks since Gonzales, 60, joined the Probation Department, replacing Mack Jenkins, who retired last month. The chief probation officer manages approximately 1,250 employees who supervise about 11,400 adult and 2,000 juvenile offenders. Gonzales has already been busy touring Probation’s facilities, evaluating programs and policies, meeting service providers and collaborating with employees.
“My plan has always been to make San Diego County one of the safest counties in the country. And my plan now is to make San Diego County Probation Department the best probation department in the country,” said Gonzales.
Among Gonzales’ goals for Probation are enhancing the services the department provides, improving efficiency and developing future leadership in the department. He will focus on reducing recidivism, and bolstering partnerships with law enforcement agencies, community-based organizations and other County departments such as the Health and Human Services Agency.
He is also quick to point out the importance of taking care of offenders.
“You have to treat people—no matter what mistakes they’ve made in their life—with dignity and respect, and you try to be fair to the best of your availability,” he said.
County Board of Supervisors Chairman Ron Roberts said Chief Gonzales has an exceptional and broad record of service in San Diego law enforcement, working with partner agencies, as well as community groups and residents.
“The County is thrilled to welcome Chief Adolfo Gonzales to the Probation Department,” said Roberts. “I’m confident he will bring a remarkable level of expertise and passion to the role.”
A fluent Spanish speaker, Gonzales has nearly four decades of law enforcement experience.
He first joined the San Diego Police Department as a reserve officer in 1978 and was hired as a full-time police officer by the department a year later. Gonzales advanced through the organization reaching the rank of investigative lieutenant in 1992.
In 1996, Gonzales was selected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to serve as an FBI Executive Fellow. In this role, he traveled across the country conducting audits, inspections and evaluations of various violent crime task forces. In addition, he worked with the Executive Office for Weed and Seed, a program designed to prevent, control and reduce violent crime, drug abuse, and gang activity in targeted high-crime neighborhoods across the country.
In 1997, he was promoted to police captain and served in that capacity until 2001, when he was promoted to assistant chief of police with SDPD.
After nearly 20 years with the San Diego Police Department, he became the National City Police chief in 2004. After 9 years with National City, he joined the San Diego County District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation, where he served as chief.
Gonzales holds a master’s degree in education from San Diego State and a doctorate of education in leadership science from the University of San Diego.
He has been recognized with numerous awards and honors over the years including the Leadership Award from the National Latino Police Chiefs’ Association, Chief of Police of the Year by the Neighborhood Market Association and the Excellence in Public Service from UC San Diego.
In addition, he continues to volunteer his time with various community organizations such as the Jackie Robinson YMCA and Reach One Teach One, a nonprofit with a mission to reduce violence, promote unity, and improve the quality of life in the communities.
Miguel Rosario, who was the District Attorney’s Assistant Chief of Investigations, now serves as Chief of Investigation and Diane Snyder is the new Assistant Chief of Investigation.
